24 July ’06.

After leaving Spokane we headed toward Yakima for another week.  The weather was getting hotter as we traveled, so as we started to pass Moses Lake we made the command decision to stop for the day and get into a pool if possible.  With the day temperatures reaching into the 100+ degree area and the road temperatures reaching as high as 120, it just made sense to stop. The campground was great and the pools were really good…we will be back.  Early the next morning we again were on the road to Yakima.  Just after arriving, we went over to Leslee’s and picked up Lena and Vinny.  The campground had a pool so we thought they might enjoy it and it would also give us some one on one time with them.  The funny thing was, as soon as we hit the water in the pool, we found that it might be cooler staying out… This pool was solar heated and apparently they have no idea as to how to turn the heat off…it wasn’t only warm, it was down right HOT !!!   Well apparently Vinny didn’t mind it so much, as he stayed in for the better part of 2 hours straight.  That night while we were sitting outside, I heard the “thunder” of a NASCAR       vehicle warming up at the track down the street.  You can’t miss knowing that sound…  I grabbed Vinny and Lena and we headed over to see if we could get close enough to see it circle the track.  Fortunately I found the lock off the entrance gate to the pits so we were able to sneak a peak from the wall as it roared by.  A little surprising to me, the kids enjoyed it as much as I did.  Over the next few days we were able to get together with Lena and Vinny at the pool, the coach, and their house.  It was really great to get together with them.  Leslee would join us after work and then we would either head off to a restaurant for dinner or have a barbecue over at her place or ours.  The morning we left Yakama, we headed up the Canyon Road that follows the Yakama River all the way to Ellensburg.  I don’t know what took us so long to find that route…it was great. 

19 July ’06.

Ok, first let’s make this absolutely clear…I am writing this on the 21st of August and trying to remember as much of the past month as possible.  This will be a journal from hell I’m sure.  All the details have been jumbled together, so I will do my best to unscramble them and make this worth the effort to write or more importantly, worth the effort to read.  After leaving Coeur d’Alene we headed to Spokane for our “Wiener Family Picnic”.  Boy, the weather has continued to be HOT !!!  John agreed to have the picnic at his “ranch” for another year…”What a guy…”  We parked the coach as close to the drive as possible so that when we put the canopy out it might give shade enough to save a number of the family members from heat stroke.  Three days of great family conversations, games, and battles (water balloons) and of course more food than we could ever have consumed in a month.  Thanks to John again this year, we have had a place to gather…. 

18 July ‘06

Today was a day of catch-up… I wouldn’t say it was because of our trip down the river, but it did feel good to just enjoy the ease of doing nothing.  Louise had a good day, had her hair cut, met with Joelle and Amy for a pedicure, and then enjoyed a “ladies only lunch”.    For me, it was to grab a quick sandwich, install the last of the window coverings on the coach, and catch up on the journal.  Tonight we had the great pleasure of being invited over to Bill and Shirley Molenda’s motor home.  Shirley had made a blackberry cobbler and thought right, that we would enjoy sharing a dish with them.  Last night they had us over for a steak barbecue.  The steaks were so large we all made the statement that we would have to have a “doggie bag” to take at least half of it back home with us.  Well, by the time we had taken the first bite, it was very evident that there would be nothing left to put into that bag…what a meal…. Now what about tomorrow night Bill ???  

16 July ‘06

From Wall and the Bad Lands, we headed off to Harden, Montana.  Just outside of Harden is the location of Custer’s Last Stand.  We arrived late afternoon, and thank God for that…it was hot !!!  Leaving the coach in the hot sun, we headed off to see some of the National Park area.  The first thing we came across was a lecture being given by one of the Park Rangers.  I wasn’t sure it was going to be worth our time to sit in the sun (we happened to find a couple of seats in the shade) to hear what he had to say, but boy did I have to eat my words…he was great !!!  We sat there for a good 45 minutes hung on every word he gave us.  Afterwards we definitely had a good idea as to what we were looking at, and how the “Last Stand” took place.  It pointed out that even back then, the scouting of the “enemy” wasn’t any better than it is today.  Custer was too big for his own good, and fell along with his troops without much glory.  We stayed the night in Harden.  That night we attended an ice cream social at the campground…pretty good stuff.  First thing in the morning we headed out for Bozeman.  On the way, we stopped at a RV store and service department in Billings, to see if we could get our oil changed.  They couldn’t get us in for another week or so, so we headed off to Bozeman.  I had always thought Bozeman was a great little town from way back when I traveled here in the 60-70’s…  It didn’t disappoint me…it is still a great Montana town.  Because of an Airstream group coming into town the next day, we had to pull up and leave, so we headed onto Missoula.  2 days in Missoula, and we headed off to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  Unfortunately we had suffered with a head wind almost all the way from South Dakota to Coeur d’Alene, but now we have been entranced into our campground with the weather being absolutely wonderful.  We have made a couple of short trips around here over the last few days.  Yesterday we went down to St. Maries Idaho for a “car and arts” show.  The cars absolutely made my day…they had been either restored or completely built from scratch to absolutely beautiful machines.  The Art show was set beside the St Joe River, and we had a good time there as well.  Over the last week, Louise and I have had the kayak out in the Coeur d’Alene Lake.  We hope to explore Fernan Lake and the Spokane River either today or in the next couple of days.  We have really enjoyed our newest toy…  Late this afternoon, we are going to the river with Joelle, Amy, Randy (Roo), and Bill and Shirley Molenda.  We are taking the kayak, barbeque, and lots of good food to make for a great afternoon….see ya… 

Well, that was yesterday…  This morning Amy met us at the beach and then followed Louise back to Post Falls and back for a round trip.  We planned our days kayaking yesterday and that was to paddle down the Spokane River from Coeur d’Alene to the city park in Post Falls.  It was great to have a car there for the finish of our days paddle.  The weather was absolutely beautiful…sunny in the middle 80’s + and a nice cooling breeze.  Besides, the water temp couldn’t have been better for a “cooling off”.  It took us just over 3 hours to cover the 8 miles and we did it without dropping dead at the end.   

5 July ‘06

On the 3rd we left Hot Springs and headed off to see Wall, South Dakota and from there we would run down into the Badlands. The weather had cooled enough so that we thought we might have a chance to see the Badlands without “sweltering”. We did find that the wind was blowing pretty good, and it just happened to be blowing in our face all the way. It is amazing just how many more times the coach shifts into lower gears when you have that wind pushing against the front end. When we arrived in Wall, after setting up, we walked up to see just what the home of “Wall Drugs” is all about. First of all, the town of Wall would be nothing but a dust bowl if it weren’t for Ted Hustead and his wife needing to do more marketing to make it a go for their drug store. Dorothy came up with the idea to place signs out on the highway (which is now I-90) promoting a “Free Glass Of Ice Water”. This turned out to be more than anyone could ever have imagined…fact is, the rush started to their “drug store” even before Ted got back from installing the signs. It could take you a full day to see the whole complex of stores that surround the drug portion if you were inclined to let it. We did spend about 2 hours looking around and having our lunch. Then it was back to the coach for a little rest, dinner, and then about 7 we left for a sunset tour of “The Badlands”. After traveling about 8 miles down highway 240 and seeing nothing but flat farm lands all around us, we were all of a sudden stunned as the land dropped away from us and exposed those Badlands before us. Amazing site, amazing colors… some of the hills were mounds of light green going to soft red, some of the high peaks were streaks of red, pink, light brown and purple. These streaks were so straight that it was like looking through some type of special filter that would only let you see the horizontal…it was freaky but yet absolutely beautiful. Our drive back home was on the same road, but now it was dark and with a half moon above us. The speed limit was 45, but we found out that we safely could only do about 30-35 max because of the animals that seemed to come out of no-where…deer, wild goats, and coyote. This morning we awoke to the day that we will start heading back to the Pacific Northwest. There is no hurry, but we want to take our time. Right now, we have landed in the “Legendary” Sturgis, South Dakota. We stopped here to see what brings the motorcycle crowd each year. This is the 66th year, and they have started to arrive already. Sturgis is expecting about 70,000 bikers here by the end of the month. The sounds around here are deep and throaty. Tonight, Louise wants to head off to Deadwood tonight and do a little gambling, so wish her (and me) luck…

3 July ‘06
We decided to throw out our plans to visit Mount Rushmore tonight. They have planned one of the best fireworks displays in the state of South Dakota and we had planned to be there. Since arriving in the Black Hills, we had heard nothing but how difficult it would be to get close enough to enjoy the fireworks at the park. Mount Rushmore is reached by traveling up the mountain from Keystone for 3 miles (straight up) or from the opposite side (where we were camped) in which you have 3 ½ miles of straight up hills. They have told us that “you must consider arriving by 9:30 in the morning so that you will have a parking spot at the memorial. Of course you could park on one side of the road going up the hill, but there is limited parking available there as well. The best option is to “walk” from Keystone or our campground in the 85-90 degree day, and then back after the fireworks are over at 10:45pm… in the dark, with a ton of others bearing down on you with their cars and trucks and all wanting to get home as fast as possible… Tough decision, but that’s the one we decided to do…get the heck out of “Dodge”. We packed up everything this morning and headed further South. Our destination…Hot Springs, South Dakota. We were both surprised by the size and uniqueness of this town. It follows a meandering river with buildings of red sandstone to very old (and new) wood structures. Fact is, most of the “old” sandstone block buildings, were built in another town. Columbia was to be “the” location for the railroad to go through, so they started to build these wonderful sandstone buildings in anticipation of the new “boom”. As it was, the railroad didn’t get to Columbia, and Columbia just didn’t ever get its feet off the ground, so they dismantled those beautiful sandstone block buildings and moved them to Hot Springs where the hot springs were doing great with the “tourist”. In arriving in town, the first thing we had to accomplish was finding a campground. Coming into Hot Springs, we saw a sign along side the road telling us of a campground beside a lake, and that sounded good to the both of us, a home for the night. Detaching “Toad”, we headed off to see the sights of Hot Springs and the surrounding areas. First stop was for our lunch…”Spicy White Bean Chile and half a sandwich of a “Spicy Grilled Turkey”…boy was that tasty…I wanted the recipe for the soup, but didn’t get it. From there, we headed out to see the site were they are excavating the Columbian and Woolly Mammoth. Can you believe it…a WOOLLY MAMMOTH ??? They found this site just by accident when a building contractor started to do a housing project, he dug into this huge tusk. What a find !!! This is a working site where we can not only walk around and see the volunteer “Earthwatch” crew excavate the bones, but we can see just what has been excavated since 1974. It is amazing to look down at these huge bones and tusks that roamed these hills many centuries ago. Another great day here in the USA…